Magic Cat Academy: The Adventures of Momo

The Winter Solstice

Teris had learnt a lot of things today.

One: They hadn't been as secretive as they had hoped. Goldiha had already had a suspicion a few days after Momo had settled in. Apparently, the black cat's behaviors were wildly different from those of normal cats, and while that could go unnoticed by others, the blonde witch had dealt with more than enough cats in her life to take note immediately.

"You are more timid, and your actions seem to be calculated," the witch shrugged to a stunned Momo, "As if you are trying to please me, yet you always refuse to fall into deep sleep next to me. That, by itself, is strange. By nature, cats are soloists and will only allow those they trust to share their comfort. You clearly don't trust me enough."

"Oh..."

"Additionally, there have been a handful of bizarre happenings under my roof after you came, yet somehow I always find Teris in the middle. My cauldron misplaced, some of my plants suddenly hitting a puberty of sorts," Goldiha giggled, "Or my living room curtains swapped with those in the kitchen, and my pumpkin turned into a bunch of cabbages, to name a few. There is no way it could've been Teris, although your face had looked so truly guilty, I almost believed that it was you. And no, I'm not mad. I find it comical, really," she reassured the grey tomcat.

"And then I thought back to everything about you, Momo. About how you made me call you by your correct name and how you were always peeking around the corner as Teris took the blame for you. There was even that one time when my scrapped knee healed too quickly to be human or the work of a potion - I didn't apply any, by the way - and I remembered you cuddling on my lap, how that felt so pleasant.

"On top of it all, however, was your performance at the Candy Cup two years ago. Although it was subtle, upon closer inspection, you did perform a simple form of teleportation. Juliana had pointed that out."

Even Varee had an inkling that Momo was no ordinary cat. A sorceress? No, she didn't think that far, nor did she have knowledge of the concept to assume to, yet she wasn't surprised at the revelation.

"You two had been hiding something from me, that I know. I was just wondering why. Seems like you have a solid reason after all, so I'll let it slide."

Two: There were more sorcerers out there besides Momo and Muffin. Three more of them, at least, including Frodo von Schwartz. Momo was overjoyed when she was informed. Since forever, she had been convinced that they were all slaughtered to the root, and that she was unfortunate to be alive.

"Ah, no, there is no straightforward root to be burnt when it comes to sorcerers. Fascinating, isn't it? Humans can never wipe sorcerers away, just reduce their numbers. In fact, I haven't found any genetic relations to this occurrence yet. More or less, my current hypothesis is that this is a gift from an extraterrestrial force. The inter-dimensional theory is yet proven false, after all," Juliana explained.

Three: Instructor Juliana was extremely passionate about the whole "offering sorcerers proper education" thing. She had, naturally, heard of countless tales depicting the sorcerers as the villain, but she had always been more interested in why they had come to be. Goldiha was also on board. Being quite neutral on the matter from the start, Juliana didn't even break a sweat persuading her.

"Sorcerers typically enjoy a longer life than the rest of their kind, nearing around that of humans, so it's quite easy on my part calculating at which age you should be enrolled into the Academy. Specifically - six."

"Six?" Teris looked at the black cat wide-eyed upon hearing the witch's statement, "You are six years old already!?"

That - was the fourth shocking thing that he found out today. All this time, he considered Momo his little sister of a different mother. Never once had it crossed his mind that she aged differently, that she was actually older than him. Heck, he wasn't even four! In his own defense, she did look like a three-month-old kitten. But then again, he had only realized now that she hadn't changed much since she arrived while he grew dramatically. If she was an ordinary cat, she would've been as tall as Varee now - or could've reached her shoulder, at least.